1. Field of the Invention
The present invention deals with the field of devices wherein ladders need to be stored on the external surface of a vehicle such as an emergency vehicle in such a manner as to be convenient when the vehicle is traveling while also providing a means for deploying the ladder to a lower position for immediate access thereto for emergency personnel in an environment where the access to the ladder is needed such as at the location of a fire. Such devices are commonly utilized on fire trucks and other similar emergency vehicles. Such devices need to provide an adaptability for usage with various different sizes of ladders and various different sizes and configurations of emergency vehicles while still utilizing the same basic mechanism for storing and/or deploying of the ladder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of patents have been granted for positioning and re-positioning of ladder storage mechanism and ladders relative to vehicle such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,890,940 was patented Dec. 13, 1932 to C. H. Fox and assigned to Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company on a “Fire Engine”; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,898,826 was patented Feb. 21, 1933 to C. H. Fox and assigned to Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company on a “Fire Engine”; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,991,900 was patented Feb. 19, 1935 to N. P. Larsen and assigned to The American Coach and Body Company on a “Ladder Support”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,531 was patented Feb. 19, 1952 to D. L. Gordon on a “Wheeled Support Having Ladder Assembly”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,946,397 was patented Jul. 26, 1960 to W. A. Berberich on a “Ladder Mount For Vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,681 was patented Dec. 19, 1961 to E. V. Garnett on a “Device For Storage Of Elongated Articles On A Vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,607 was patented Oct. 16, 1962 to J. T. Kiley and assigned to James A. Kiley Company on “Ladder Racks”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,578 was patented Dec. 12, 1967 to J. O. Koenig on a “Boat Carrier For Pickup Mounted Camper Coaches”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,759 was patented Sep. 28, 1971 to L. A. Spurgeon and assigned to said Spurgeon by said Sorenson on a “Car Top Carrier”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,555 was patented Oct. 12, 1971 to C. L. Baker on a “Transportable Tank Trailer”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,158 was patented Dec. 14, 1971 to F. Kobasic on a “Loader For Vehicle Trunk Compartment”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,637,097 was patented Jan. 25, 1972 to R. R. Horowitz and assigned to S&H Industries, Inc. on a “Power-Operated Tailgate With Maximum Rearward Displacement Between Fully Elevated And Fully Lowered Positions”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,549 was patented Jun. 27, 1972 to A. J. Chorey on a “Car Top Carrier And Access Ladder”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,044 was patented Feb. 6, 1973 to G. A. Simons on a “Roof Mounted Carried For Automotive Vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,044 was patented Feb. 6, 1973 to G. A. Simons on a “Roof Mounted Carried For Automotive Vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,271 was patented Feb. 20, 1973 to D. L. Bargman, Jr. and assigned to Colorado Leisure Products, Inc. on a “Vehicle Tire Carrier”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,334 was patented Mar. 13, 1973 to A. A>Permut et al on “Boat And Equipment Loading Systems”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,839 was patented Jul. 16, 1974 to R. C. Petzing et al on a “Cartop Carrier Elevator”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,624 was patented Apr. 15, 1975 to M. T. Carson on a “Vehicle Top Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,963,136 was patented Jun. 15, 1976 to T. J. Spanke on a “Retractable Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,838 was patented Feb. 22, 1977 to R. R. Correll on a “Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,464 was patented Dec. 13, 1977 to R. E. Grove on “Mounting Brackets For An Article Handling Apparatus”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,997 was patented Jul. 24, 1979 to T. W. Norman on a “Self-Storing Step Structure For Vehicular Mounting”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,331 was patented Oct. 9, 1979 to E. W. Faulstich on a “Vehicle Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,860 was patented Dec. 2, 1980 to D. Gottlieb et al on an “Apparatus For Lifting A Wheelchair Onto The Roof Of An Automobile”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,438 was patented Dec. 16, 1980 to C. R. Everson on a “Device For Lifting And Carrying Loads On Top Of Pickup Trucks”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,834 was patented Apr. 21, 1981 to W. H. Nutt and assigned to Teledyne Canada on a “Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,064 was patented Jul. 13, 1982 to T. Ziaylek, Jr. on a “Carrier Clamp For Fire Ladders”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,223 was patented Jul. 13, 1982 to R. R. Golze on a “Roof Top Carrier”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,611 was patented Mar. 15, 1983 to B. H. Koop on a “Car Top Carrier For Wheelchair”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,117 was patented Jun. 28, 1983 to M. W. Fagan on a “Ladder Rack For Vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,408,680 was patented Oct. 11, 1983 to D. O. Ross on a “Ladder Support Assembly”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,082 was patented Feb. 14, 1984 to J. A. Bott on a “Vehicle Ladder”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,086 was patented Mar. 27, 1984 to R. W Thede on a “Boat Loader”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,083 was patented Oct. 21, 1986 to K. F. Weger, Jr. and assigned to Knaack Mfg. Co. on a “Ladder Clamping Device For Vehicle Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,981 was patented to J. C. Mitchell et al on Jun. 21, 1988 on a “Detachably Mounted Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,056 was patented Feb. 28, 1989 to S. Oshima on an “Elevator Device Transportable In A Motor Vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,585 was patented Mar. 21, 1989 to W. H. Nutt and assigned to Teledyne Canada Limited on a “Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,387 was patented May 2, 1989 to M. Audet on a “Vehicle Roof Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,742 was patented May 9, 1989 to R. R. McDonald and assigned to Unistrut Australia Pty. Ltd. on a “Security Assembly For Vehicle Roofrack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,490 was patented Jul. 4, 1989 to R. E. Kohler on a “Fire Truck Ladder Support”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,725 was patented Aug. 22, 1989 to L. H. Griffin on a “Ladder Brace”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,108 was patented Oct. 31, 1989 to L. H. Griffin et al on a “Hydraulic Ladder Brace”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,750 was patented Dec. 19, 1989 to R. K. Dainty and assigned to British Gasa plc on a “Rack Arrangement”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,352 was patented Mar. 20, 1990 to K. McComb on a “Ladder Support System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,103 was patented to C. J. Sauber on May 8, 1990 on a “Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,757 was patented Sep. 4, 1990 to J. R. Stevens et al on a “Front Rack For A Truck”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,350 was patented Apr. 23, 1991 to J. M. Schill et al on “Retainer Assemblies For Elongated Objects”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,641 was patented Sep. 17, 1991 to J. N. Holcomb et al and assigned to Jack N. Holcomb on a “Van-Mounted Ladder Assembly With Concealed Radio Antennas”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,791 was patented Oct. 22, 1991 to K. R. Henriquez et al and assigned to Slide-Out, Inc. on a “Vehicular Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,022 was patented Nov. 12, 1991 to G. W. Graham and assigned to Marrowbone Development Company on a “Ladder Apparatus And Method For Large Mobile Equipment”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,280 was patented Apr. 14, 1992 to M. P. Ziaylek et al and assigned to Michael P. Ziaylek on an “Apparatus For Use With An Emergency Vehicle For Storage And Retrieval Of Remotely Located Emergency Devices”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,563 was patented Oct. 13, 1992 to J. R. Phillips on a “Wheel Chair Carrier”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,952 was patented Dec. 22, 1992 to R. Lasnetski on an “Overhead Storage Rack For Storing Ladders Or The Like”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,411 was patented Dec. 29, 1992 to D. P. Oliver et al and assigned to Abru Aluminium Limited on “Ladder Improvements”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,588 was patented Feb. 16, 1993 to C. W. Sutton et al on a “Ladder Rack Ladder Latch”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,628 was patented May 11, 1993 to C. C. Hassell on a “Self-Loading Dolly Mount Apparatus”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,094 was patented Sep. 7, 1993 to A. L. Finley on a “Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,757 was patented Oct. 26, 1993 to M. Horowitz et al and assigned to Martin Horowitz on a “Collapsible Ladder”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,912 was patented to A. Y. Levi on Mar. 29, 1994 and assigned to JAJ Products, Inc. on a “Ladder Rack For Motor Vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,357 was patented Sep. 13, 1994 to C. C. Hassell on a “Self-Locking Parallel-Motion Dolly Mount”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,150 was patented Nov. 1, 1994 to J. L. Praz on “Roof Rack For Vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,052 was patented to J. K. Lin on Nov. 22, 1994 on a “Reversible Folding Ladder”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,778 was patented Mar. 21, 1995 to R. Sexton on a “Ladder Rack Securing And Release System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,234 was patented Apr. 11, 1995 to T. Ziaylek, Jr. et al on a “Pivotable Article Retaining Apparatus To Invert And Store A Collapsible Water Storage Tank On A Vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,495 was patented Jun. 6, 1995 to L. Bubik et al and assigned to Innovative Bicycle Design Inc. on a “Vehicle Roof Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,925 was patented Aug. 8, 1995 to T. Ohmi et al and assigned to Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho, Ltd. on a “Ladder For Climbing Up To And Down From Working Floor Of Printing Press”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,933 was patented Nov. 28, 1995 to J. Thomason on a “Vehicle Mounted Ladder”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,357 was patented May 21, 1996 to T. Ziaylek, Jr. et al and assigned to Theodore Ziaylek, Jr. and Michael P. Ziaylek on a “Retaining And Retrieval Apparatus For Storage Of A Ladder Upon A Vehicle Shelf Area”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,100 was patented Jul. 23, 1996 to R. I. Hedley on an “Access Device”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,591 was patented May 27, 1997 to K. R. Henriquez on a “Ladder Storage And Transport Device”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,521 was patented Jan. 220, 1998 to D. Glass et al on a “Lift Assist Bicycle Carrier For Car Rooftop”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,857 was patented Aug. 11, 1998 to T. Ziaylek, Jr. et al and assigned to Theodore Ziaylek, Jr. and Michael Paul Ziaylek on an “Automatic Ladder Lowering And Storage Device For Use With An Emergency Vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,891 was patented Dec. 22, 1998 to J. J. Olms et al and assigned to Trimble Navigation Limited on a “Motorized Rack System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,836 was patented Mar. 9, 1999 to I. F. Huang on a “Structure Of An Escaping Device”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,633 was patented Dec. 21, 1999 to R. G. Rolson and assigned to Robert G. Rolson on a “Portable Truck Or Trailer Ladder Assembly”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,545 was patented Jan. 11, 2000 to E. Faleide on a “Foldable Vehicle Ladder System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,312 was patented Jul. 11, 2000 to M. P. Ziaylek et al on a “Tank Handling Apparatus”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,972 was patented Jul. 25, 2000 to A. Y. Levi on a “Truck Mounted Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,231 was patented Aug. 8, 2000 to A. Y. Levi on a “Drive Unit For Motor Vehicle Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,543 was patented Jan. 30, 2001 to D. Adame et al on a “Rack For Motor Vehicles”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,534 was patented Jul. 10, 2001 to A. L. Finley and assigned to Fibre Body Industries Inc. on a “Ladder Rack Assembly”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,668 was patented to F. Kameda on Aug. 14, 2001 and assigned to Nissin Jidosha Kogyo Co., Ltd. on a “Wheel Chair Storage Apparatus Of Car”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,181 was patented Nov. 13, 2001 to J. A. Bradley et al and assigned to Adrian Steel Company on a “Ladder Rack Apparatus And Method”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,873 was patented Nov. 27, 2001 to R. LaBrash and assigned to Tra-Lor-Mate, Inc. on a “Ladder Mounting System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,060 was patented Jan. 22, 2002 to L. G. Larson et al and assigned to Cold Cut Systems Svenska A. B. on a “Method And Equipment For Use In Rescue Service”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,930 was patented Mar. 26, 2002 to M. Flickenger and assigned to L & P Property Management Company on a “Vehicle Rack Assembly With Hydraulic Assist”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,889 was patented Aug. 6, 2002 to A. Y. Levi on a “Ladder Rack For Hi Bay Vans”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,396 was patented May 13, 2003 to C. A. Ketterhagen and assigned to Johnson Outdoors Inc. on an “Automobile Cargo Carrier System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,666 was patented Jun. 17, 2003 to R. K. Miller on a “Portable Safety Ladder Assembly For A Truck Trailer”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,268 was patented Jul. 20, 2004 to A. Y. Levi on a “Ladder Rack Assembly”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,541 was patented Dec. 7, 2004 to M. P. Ziaylek et al on an “Apparatus For Holding Elongated Objects Horizontally Adjacent To A Vehicular Body Which is Movable Between An Upper Storage Position And A Lower Access Position”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,627 was patented Feb. 15, 2005 to B. Foo et al and assigned to eRack LLC on a “Vehicular Utility Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,835 was patented Apr. 5, 2005 to L. A. Silverness on a “Collapsible Rack For Storing Ladders And The Like On A Land Vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,162 was patented to L. R. Jordan on Aug. 16, 2005 on an “Automatic Locking Ladder Rack”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,973,996 was patented Dec. 13, 2005 to F. J. Huff on a “Ladder Mounting Apparatus And Method Of Use”; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,409 was patented Aug. 29, 2006 to T. S. Richter and assigned to Adrian Steel Co. on a “Ladder Rack System”; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,690 was patented Oct. 3, 2006 to D. R. Bissen and assigned to Schwing America, Inc. on a “Universal Mast Support Frame And Method For Mounting Masts”; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,479 was patented Nov. 21, 2006 to M. P. Ziaylek et al and assigned to Michael P. Ziaylek, Theodore Ziaylek, Jr. and Theodore P. Ziaylek on a “Powered Ladder Storage Apparatus For An Emergency Vehicle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,165,650 was patented Jan. 23, 2007 to P. V. Korchagin et al on “High-Rise, Fire-Fighting, Rescue And Construction Equipment”; and U.S. Design Pat. No. D331,030 was patented Nov. 17, 1992 to M. P. Ziaylek et al and assigned to Michael P. 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